Hilachas is the Spanish word for those little loose threads that fall all over the floor and sewing area as you finish sewing and snip the tail end of the thread off the sewn area. So does this blog entail the odds and ends of topics of interest, leaving more loose threads to ponder...

Monday, April 30, 2012

Give
thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. ~ Psalm
106:1, NLT

Here are the last two
of “My Jane” blocks completed on our last road trip. They are both all appliqué
and were not hard, although both are time-consuming.

M-7

M-13

The “Novelty and Solids Layer Cake Swap” that my sister and I
coordinated is over. We had a wonderful
turn-out, all 24 slots were filled and packages of layer cakes have been mailed
to all participants. Check this photo
out to see a representation of all the wonderful fabrics in the swap.

Thanks to all who participated and since everything went so well
we may just decide to try it again sometime.

What else is going
on? Well, not a whole lot of sewing
this weekend since I spent most of the time at a local wine fest…cheers!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Encouraging
words of the day:People
may be right in their own eyes, but the LORD examines their heart.~ Proverbs 21:2, NLTPeople
can find an excuse for doing almost anything, but God looks behind the excuses
to the motives of the heart.We often
have to make choices in areas where the right action is difficult to discern.
We can help ourselves make such decisions by trying to identify our motives
first and then asking, "Would God be pleased with my real reasons for
doing this?" God is not pleased when we do good deeds only to receive
something in return.Once again, it’s “One
Flower Wednesday”when Karen (over atJourney of a
Quilter) provides
a linky for all of to share our hexagon flowers. If you would like to see
more flowers out there in Blogland, just click HERE.The flowers I’m posting this week are flowers I made
for my swap partner in the"Inchy Hexagon Flower Swap."Talk about “killing two birds with one stone.…”

Here are two more of “My
Jane” blocks completed.J-5 was ok.It was actually tedious sewing those little appliqué
shapes in the corners just because they are so small.

J-5

M-6 was hard because
I sewed it all by hand on our road trip.It’s difficult for me to sew straight for some reason so I ended up with
“ripply-looking” strips on the sides.I
guess I need more practice but I will stick to my sewing machine unless I’m
traveling.The only thing, I think I’ve
completed most of the appliqué blocks already and all I have left are the
paper-pieced to sew on the machine.Maybe some of the triangles on the sides are appliqué.I’ll need to check.Here’s M-6.

M-6

That’s all I’ve done
lately.I’ve actually been doing a
little, very little, spring cleaning.I
decided that I’ve done all I’m going to do so I’m back to sewing.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Encouraging words of the day:Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ~ Philippians 4:6, NLT

It's a beautiful Saturday in El Paso. I'm sitting in the back yard with my husband doing yard work. He loves it and just likes for me to sit out here and read or blog as he putters. That works for me. Our yard is looking beautiful.You've seen where I've posted about how happy I am sewing "My Jane" blocks following "Aunt Reen's Quilts." (http://auntreensquilts.blogspot.com/ ) instructions. I've now made 8 blocks and 2 triangle blocks using her cutting instructions. Here is the pile of "My Janes" completed. I'll be posting them in the days to follow.

For right now, here are a couple that I made on our recent road trip following my cutting and applique technique. G-10 was no problem. Nice.

G-10I-5 is another story. I think it looks goofy. I am just now beginning to realize that "My Jane" is going to have a lot of wonderful blocks mixed in with another lot of "good enough" blocks. It's going to be an interesting finish one day :)

I-5Giveaways:"It's So Kiki" is having a terrific giveaway for the "Colonial Needle Blog Hop."She has and assortment of notions, books, thread and rulers all for one winner. - ends April 25th."Love Affair With My Brother" is also having a terrific giveaway for the "Colonial Needle Blog Hop." She has an assortment of notions for 3 winners. - ends April 25th.I'm trying to learn how to blog from my iPad and I haven't figured out how to change all these colors. I change my old post to orange-colored font so I know that I've already posted that but I don't know how to change the orange to green (the current post color) on my iPad. The giveaways I've found are usually red.So, that's why all the different colors are appearing. Yes, I'm having a difficult time. Between learning the "new and improved" Blogger and now how to blog using Blogsy on my iPad...That is all.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Put on your new nature, and be
renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. ~ Colossians 3:10, NLT

What
does it mean to "put on your new nature"? It means that your
conduct should match your faith. To be a Christian means more than just
making good resolutions and having good intentions; it means taking the right
actions. This is a straightforward step that is as simple as putting on your
clothes.

Where does the time
go, for crying out loud.I missed“One
Flower Wednesday” last
week and here it is “One
Flower Wednesday”
again.I’m ready with my flowers though.
They are both for the hexie quilt lay-out I’m planning so one of them looks a
little weird.The other flower I will
fit in somewhere just because I think it is so pretty (patting self of back : )

I’ve been working diligently
on “My Jane.”I found a cool blog called
"Aunt Reen's Quilts."This wonderful lady has figured out the measurement
for cutting the fabric for paper-piecing.Talk about a time saver.Yes, I
could figure it out myself but I usually just cut out a strip that looks big
enough and jiggle it around, sew it on wrong, un-sew, try again, etc. so knowing
what size to cut the pieces beforehand is great!Thanks so much, Doreen, for doing all that
work.I KNOW what a big job that is.I made 3 blocks in the time it usually takes
me to make one.Anyway, here are a
couple of blocks I completed before running into"Aunt Reen's
Quilts."I made these on the road trip
back to El Paso.

E-4

E-4 has crazy crooked
sides so I had to hand-sew the sides. I’m always amazed when a block comes out
looking so good.

H-8

H-8 was just tedious
and came out just okay.

I won this beautiful
giveaway prize from Lynn at "Heartstrings
and Heirlooms."The fat quarters are gorgeous in
beautiful turquoise blues, my favorite color.Another has flowers, butterflies, and dragon flies, perfect for my hexie
flowers.Also included was a cute
crocheted pot holder.Thanks so much,
Lynn.

Monday, April 16, 2012

Encouraging
words of the day:Never
let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder.
Write them deep within your heart. ~ Proverbs
3:3, NLT Love
and kindness are important character qualities. Both involve actions as well as
attitudes. A loving person not only feels love; he or she also acts loyally and
responsibly. A kind person works for justice for others.

You have until April 22nd to link up your "May for Me BINGO" card. I'm not too sure on all the rules but it sounds like fun. Check any of the blogs listed above for more information. So, here's my BINGO card:

Saturday, April 14, 2012

A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make
tempers flare. Proverbs 15:1, NLT Have you ever tried to argue in a whisper? It is equally
hard to argue with someone who insists on answering gently. On the other hand,
a rising voice and harsh words almost always trigger an angry response. To turn away wrath and seek peace, choose
gentle words.

Where has the time gone for crying out loud?
I don’t know why I didn’t post anything on Monday. I was prepared to post something on Wednesday forOne-Flower Wednesday. That was the day we drove 7 hours from our
ranch in the Texas Hill Country to New Mexico where my parents live. They were at the ranch with us so we drove
them home before continuing our trip the next day back to El Paso. I had my hexie flowers made but just did not
ever post anything so that’s what happened to Wednesday. Then yesterday I just didn’t get to my blog
at all so here I am on Saturday. We had
a pile of mail but the best part was the packages waiting for me. I received my hexie flowers from my March
partner in the "Inchy Hexagon Flower
Swap."Larissa from
Australia sewed these beautiful flowers for me.
She also included a cute, crocheted heart and a lovely card. Thanks, Larissa.

Another package in the mail was a
giveaway I won
from"Kenna
Quilts Leap Day Giveaway"way back on February 29th. So Kenna’s family all came down with
something and were sick and that delayed the shipment of the package. I understand completely. No problem.
In the meantime, I was on my trip and the package arrived at my post
office but I didn’t receive it until I returned and “Wow,” was it worth the
wait. Look at these 7 beautiful fat
quarters. Kenna, thank you!

I did a lot of prep
work for “My Jane” blocks before leaving on our road trip so I was able to
complete a few on the drive out. Here is
B-5. It was easy paper-piecing and
appliqué.

B-5

And here is B-9. It looks rather “goofy” for some reason. That little white square in the middle
looks so tiny and lonely. I’m thinking
that I probably made it the wrong size but I’m not doing any of these blocks
over unless they are absolutely wrong.

B-9

Then I sewed two more
Little Houses for "Little Dutch Houses from Scraps."
I have a total of 9 now. These
last two houses were all hand-sewn. Man,
is that ever hard. Well, I paper-pieced
them and it’s hard to sew through the paper with a hand-needle so maybe that
was the problem. Maybe I should have
just cut out the little-bitty pieces and done it that way. I’ll try that next time or maybe just
continue to machine-sew them. Here
are my little crooked houses: